Air pocket: Show cause to SpiceJet overdue. DGCA has to be more proactive on safety..

India’s civil aviation regulator DGCA issued a show cause notice to SpiceJet after reviewing a series of incidents reported from April 1 in aircrafts operated by it. The broad conclusions of the regulator are that the airline had poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance. Consequently, there’s been a degradation in safety margin. There have been at least seven instances reported since May where there have been questions about SpiceJet. The worst day was July 5 when there were three instances, including one where a Delhi-Dubai flight had to be diverted to Karachi after a snag..None of these problems have arisen overnight. There have been red flags for a while. In SpiceJet’s 2020-21 annual report, the auditor’s report came with qualifications. The auditor raised doubts about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Also, undisputed statutory dues such as PF and GST had not been regularly deposited. Financial stress inevitably leads to other compromises. DGCA, thereafter, conducted a financial assessment in September 2021. The finding showed that suppliers are not being paid regularly and that has led to a shortage of spares.

In March, GoI informed Rajya Sabha that there have been investigations into 49 air accidents since 2016. The findings showed that main reasons for accidents were failure on the part of the cockpit crew to stick to standard operating procedures, technical defects and factors related to the weather and ATC. DGCA primarily deals with safety issues. Its record has been mixed. In 2013-14, the US Federal Aviation Authority decided to downgrade Indian civil aviation from category I to category II after an audit brought out shortcomings in safety and maintenance. It had an adverse impact on the international plans of some Indian carriers. Since then, matters have improved and a recent US FAA audit reportedly went off well.

The regulator’s focus on safety has to be relentless – a Vistara flight yesterday experienced an engine snag. There’s a key international safey audit ahead. This one will be carried out by ICAO, a specialised UN agency that deals with air transport. In the last pre-pandemic year Indian aviation companies carried about 141 million passengers. That will be the baseline in a normal year. DGCA’s primary responsibility is to take timely action to make sure that Indian flyers are guaranteed safety standards that match the best. That requires being proactive when problems are at an incipient stage...